Green Lentil Dal Makhani Food

GREEN LENTIL DAL MAKHANI

Steps:

• In a medium-large saucepan, heat a glug of olive oil and sautee onion until soft.
• Add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Mix for another minute or so until the fragrances start to release.
• Add the tomatoes a small pat of the butter (holding the rest back to mix in at the end) and simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until they break down and start to reduce.
• Add the chili powder, turmeric and garam masala and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the kidney beans, green lentils and 2.5 cups of boiling water.
• Simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft. (That's just a minimum - you can leave it simmering longer if you like.)
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the cream and butter until melted in.
• Let set for about 5 minutes before serving.
• Scatter with coriander (cilantro) leaves after dishing it up.

DAL MAKHANI (INDIAN LENTILS)

Steps:

• Place lentils and kidney beans in a large bowl; cover with plenty of water. Soak for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain.
• Cook lentils, kidney beans, 5 cups water, and salt in a pot over medium heat until tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and set aside. Keep the lentils, kidney beans, and any excess cooking water in the pot.
• Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook cumin seeds in the hot oil until they begin to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and cloves; cook until bay leaves turn brown, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low; add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir to coat.
• Stir tomato puree into spice mixture; cook over medium heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, coriander, and butter; cook and stir until butter is melted.
• Stir lentils, kidney beans and any leftover cooking water into tomato mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Stir fenugreek into lentil mixture. Cover saucepan and simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Add cream and cook until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes.

DAL MAKHANI (SPICY BLACK LENTILS)

Steps:

• Clean, wash and soak the whole black lentils and kidney beans overnight. Drain and keep aside.
• Combine the lentils and beans with salt and 2 cups of water and cook till the dals are overcooked. Whisk well till the mixture is almost mashed.
• Heat the butter in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
• When the cumin seeds crackle, add the green chillies, cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom, onions, ginger-garlic paste and sauté till the onions turn golden brown in color.
• Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and tomato puree and cook over a medium flame till the oil separates from the tomato gravy.
• Add the dal mixture, water and salt if required and simmer for 10 t 15 minutes.
• Add the cream and mix well.
• Garnish with the cilantro and serve hot.